We can only hope that Divine Providence will save Minnesota deer hunters and the state's wild deer herd from the leadership Nisswa Republican Josh Heintzeman is advocating in Monday's Guest Opinion: Minnesota can be a national leader on CWD in the Brainerd Dispatch.
Heintzeman writes:
Like many area residents, I was extremely concerned when the DNR revealed last month that a wild deer in Crow Wing County had tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease.
This is the first time a CWD-positive deer has been found outside of southeastern Minnesota.
We posted a screenshot of his copy in the online version of the Dispatch. That's simply not true. Here's the record of CWD events found on page 40 of the Office of the Legislative Auditor's report, Board of Animal Health’s Oversight of Deer and Elk Farms:
While some of those events involved farmed elk, most are deer and most aren't in Southeastern Minnesota. Here's a map the Winona Post published in September 2018 in Chris Rogers' article, Growing threat: Chronic wasting disease in deer:
The data above is dated. The Morrison County Record reported in the November 2018 article, Deer farm in Crow Wing County infected with CWD in 2016 identifies additional cases:
Chronic wasting disease was detected in four harvested samples from farmed deer at a quarantined farm in Crow Wing County. The farm has been under movement restrictions and monitored by the Board since December 2016 when two white-tailed deer tested positive for the disease. The Minnesota Board of Animal Health confirms recent samples were CWD positive in four deer.
• 9-year-old female mule deer.
• 1.5-year-old female white-tailed deer.
• 2-year-old male white-tailed deer.
• 2-year-old female mule deer.
“We’ve been working with the herd owner for the past two years to monitor the deer and look for any new detections of the disease,” said Assistant Director Dr. Linda Glaser. “The biggest change following this new detection will be to extend our deadline to monitor the herd.”
Yes, deer (and elk) with CWD had been found "outside of southeastern Minnesota," but Heintzeman leaves that part out. That makes it easier for him to argue:
In the case of CWD, a dead deer can tell us if the disease is present but it does not help us determine where the animal acquired the disease. Yes, it could have been transmitted from a deer farm but it also could have been acquired elsewhere. Deer are often harvested elsewhere and then taken home to be processed, and the remains are then discarded in the woods or fields. Deer are also highly mobile.
Unfortunately, with CWD transmission, there's much that remains a mystery.
What remains a mystery to us is that Heintzeman imagines that folks might not be able to spot his omissions--and will never come across the Roseville deer hunter and DFL lawmaker's CWD response plan.
After all, the Minnesota Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers applauded the plan. The Minnesota Deerhunters Association likes it:
Statement from @MNDeerHunters in support of legislation to address chronic wasting disease #CWD #mnleg 🦌 pic.twitter.com/2ucDSHamNr
— Jamie Becker-Finn (@jbeckerfinn) February 27, 2019
The Bluffland Whitetails Association concurred.
Leadership looks like Jamie Becker Finn.
Screengrab: Josh Heintzeman leaves out a key fact about CWD in Minnesota.
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It’s about time someone called this guy out. Thank you! He is my Rep.
Posted by: Kathi Malone | Mar 18, 2019 at 08:32 PM